Albatross Bolus– Dissection Activity Sheet

The bolus used for this virtual dissection was expelled by a four-month-
old Laysan albatross on Midway Atoll in Pacific Ocean in the summer of
2010.

Instructions
1. Hypothesis: A bolus contains materials the albatross eats that cannot be
digested. What kinds of items would you expect to find in the bolus?
I expect to find pieces of plastic, such as straws, plastic bags, and other
plastics

2. Look over the data table below and the type of information you will need to record while viewing the virtual
dissection.
Pay close attention to the types, color, size, mass, and quantity of the items that are removed from the bolus specimen.

3. Record the following information while viewing the dissection of the bolus.

Bolus measurements (before Before the dissection:

dissection)
Mass (in grams)
Length (in cm)
List the materials extracted from the
bolus
Length of a squid beak (in cm)
Mass of squid beaks (in grams)
Mass of natural non-prey materials
such as wood and stones (in grams)
Mass of fishing line (in grams)
Mass of all plastics (in grams)
Mass of unidentified debris
Mass: 70.6 g
Length: 15 cm
- Stones, wood, and other natural materials
- Unidentified debris
- Squid beaks
- Fishing line
- Plastics
All vary in size, as some are full and some are broken, a full squid beak is 3
cm
Mass of squid beaks: 3.7g
Mass of natural non prey materials: 15.3 g
Mass of fishing line 27.9g
Mass of plastics: 13.2 g
Mass of unidentified debris: (dirt) 11.3 g
 Length of the piece of a bottle Length of bottle cap: 3 cm
List other plastic items collected near Bottle caps, lighters
the bolus location

Analysis:
4. Respond to the following questions:
a. What colors did you find in the bolus?
Mostly brown colors, some blue.
b. How many pieces of plastic were colored and/or shiny?
7 pieces of plastic were colored
c. What percentage of bolus was made of plastic?
13.2 g (18%)
d. What percentage was made of prey items?
3.7 g (5%)
e. What was the mass of all of the unnatural items combined?
41.1 g
f. What percentage of the total mass of the bolus were the unnatural items?
58%
g. Do you think this bird ate more squid or more plastic? Why?
I think he ate more squid because there was a total of 23 squid beaks, meaning he ate 23 squids.

Conclusions:
5. Do you think that the bird that expelled this bolus is well-nourished? Why?
No, because most of the food in his stomach is un natural things, meaning it is not healthy